Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Lada didn’t answer or acknowledge her. She turned her head away and gave a piteous cry just at that small movement. Afanasiv didn’t want to risk getting too close to the demon with horns. He had no idea how sensitive she was, but he needed to see how bad Lada’s injuries were.
Afanasiv also wanted to know where Andros was. Grigor had been put in a cell directly across from Karine, which made sense if Lilith wanted to spy on them and listen in on their conversations. Why wouldn’t she do the same with Andros and Lada? Did she already know about Lada’s condition?
Afanasiv drifted closer to the woman, taking the long way around the cell to avoid the demon altogether. He positioned himself first at Lada’s head. He was used to inspecting from the inside out, and he did so, slipping into her body to see what damage they’d done to her. The lacerations with the knives weren’t the worst of her injuries. Her internal organs had taken a beating. Someone had systematically struck her repeatedly. She was leaking blood from her liver and spleen. Afanasiv returned to the surface to look down at Lada’s swollen face. He didn’t quite understand why they would do such a thing to her if their intent was to show Andros visible wounds—unless they beat her in front of him or somehow coerced him do it.
Very agitated, the demon with the horns paced up and down in Lada’s cell. “You shouldn’t resist and taunt me so much. I get angry and can’t stop myself. The mistress knows this, and yet she keeps sending me to you. I think you’re a test to see if I can hold my temper, but you won’t cooperate. I get terrible punishments if you don’t do as mistress wants.”
She kept muttering, her tone between guttural and growling. At times it was difficult to decipher. The demon wasn’t remorseful for hurting Lada so much as fearful that she’d gone too far, and Lada might be too injured and might not be able to do the things her mistress demanded. In that case, the demon was going to be punished.
Where was Andros in all this? Had he witnessed Lada being beaten by this demon? Did they subject him to such a torture? For a man like Andros, that would be far worse than if they had flayed the skin from his back. He’d finally found a woman he believed he was in love with, and she was lured to the underworld by his aunt because of her ties to him.
Afanasiv found it was far easier to carry on his work without emotion. Feelings got in the way and threatened to shake his centuries-old discipline. He found himself fighting down a berserker’s rage. The demon in him was rising to take these women from the ones that had harmed them so cruelly. He hastily reverted back to the way of the Carpathian hunter, shutting out all emotion so he could process everything and make the best decisions based on logic.
The other, smaller demon returned with a young woman in tow. Clearly, the woman was Carpathian. This was Tiberiu’s sister. She was tall with long dark hair. She walked with easy strides, going straight to the bed where Lada lay so restless in her pain.
“Why would you do this to a prisoner and then call me to heal her?” She hissed as she laid one hand gently on Lada’s abdomen. “Do you think I’ll be a part of your insanity? Hurting a victim and then making them well so you can hurt them all over again?”
Afanasiv could see that Gaia hurt just looking at Lada. She had to have seen a great deal of terrible things having grown up in the underworld, but it hadn’t destroyed her natural empathy. In spite of what she’d said to the demon, her palm was lightly skimming over Lada’s body, assessing the damage.
“Mistress sent succubi to Andros many times to seduce him, but he resisted. She was very angry. So she sent one looking like Lada, but Andros knew the difference. That made mistress very, very upset.” The smaller demon did the talking while the demon with horns sulked and stayed a good distance from Gaia.
Afanasiv would have known if the demons had tried to pawn someone else off as Vasilisa. Even knowing her for such a short time, he would have known. Lilith could duplicate looks but not the entirety, the whole of what she was. Her scent. Her taste. The expressions flickering across her face. Her laughter. The way she could light up a room. Even worn down, maybe especially in that state, he would know. As did Andros.
The demon continued, shaking her head. “Lilith told us to get Lada to cooperate, or else. She said we were useless to her if we couldn’t get Lada to listen to reason. She had only one simple task, and then she could go home.”